Surville Manor: 1967 Report – Part 1
SURVILLE MANOR
GARDES LA FOY
By PHYLLIDA CAMPBELL
Jersey Life, 1967
PEACEFUL AND REMOTE, approached only by traversing narrow twisting lanes, Surville Manor in the parish of St. Helier and St. Lawrence, is surrounded on all sides by pastoral scenes, and had it been built a trifle further north would have been sited in the dead centre of the Island.
It is certain that Surville Manor is ancient, perhaps one of the oldest manors in Jersey. The Fief de Surville belongs to Mr. Hedley John Messervy, solicitor of Hill Street and the Manor and grounds are owned today by Commander and Mrs. T. Chamberlayne, who make their home in the new 'cod-house' built in 1841 in front of the ancient dwelling, now restored and let to a farmer and his family.
Many people are a little vague as to what a Fief in Jersey really means. The system is of course a survival of feudal days, in fact from the time a Duke of Normandy named William Longsword captured these Islands in A.D. 933, dividing his new possession into fiefs, keeping some for himself and giving others to his followers. There were the great ones, St. Ouen, Rozel, Trinity, Samares and Melesches whose seigneurs owed knight service, and a hundred or so smaller fiefs divided into various sizes. All, whether big or small, carried with them certain privileges and certain obligations, particularly in time of war.
`Ten sixty-six and all that' could have meant little to the Channel Islands, still a part of the old Duchy of Normandy. It was when King John lost his Norman possessions in 1204 and the Channel Islands, given complete autonomy of Government, stayed with the British Crown, that some of the Norman-Jersey fief owners began to wonder where their loyalties lay. In many cases they also held rich lands in Normandy and after all, were of French descent. Those who departed had their fiefs confiscated by the Crown, some to be re-bestowed later, some to remain today as 'fiefs de la Reine'. Nine in all, of which Surville was one, remained loyal to King John and retained their fiefs on the original terms of grant. The 'disloyal fiefs' were subject to new rights on re-bestowal and remain as it were, junior. Naturally, for one reason and another, the changes of ownership of most of the fiefs over the centuries have been innumerable.
An Ancient Fief
The mists of antiquity tend to shroud the origins of Surville Manor, but it is known that the fief, which forms the northern boundary of the Fief de Bellozanne, was held by Guillame de Sureville in the twelfth century. A Mathilda de Sureville was mentioned as owing 40 shillings for 'fine and relief' in 1180 and then there were the brothers Robert and Nichola de Surville who owned the water mill, Moulin de la Haye at St. Lawrence at about that time. The name of Nicholas, heir of Thomas de Surville, crops up in old documents for having extorted relief illegally, a bad habit of mediaeval seigneurs. There is mention of Maitre Nicholas de Surville, a clerk, in the thirteenth century, also of his son, and then the name seems to have died out. In 1399 the fief passed to the family of le Gallais who lived in the charming little manor for 15 generations.
The Le Gallais family migrated to Jersey from Brittany long before the time of the Norman Conquest, and a Matthew Le Gales was the first Seigneur of Surville of that name. After their long sojourn, little that is positive is known about the occupants, but there is an interesting pointer in the fact that the Coat of Arms of the famous family of Pawlett of Poulet who governed Jersey for three generations in Queen Elizabeth the First's reign, are displayed on the facade of the new manor.
There over the front door of this early Victorian mansion are the arms 'sable three swords in pile silver, points meeting in base, hilts and pommels gold' and the crest `Gardes La Foy', an identical replica of which can be seen by any visitor to Mont Orgueil Castle at Gorey, the official Governors' residence of those days. Unless there was some monkey business, these arms must surely have been removed from the decaying old Surville Manor and placed on the new house which is so unfortunately built directly in front of it as happened so often in those days.
Queen Mary's Gaoler
During the rule of the Pawletts from 1550 to 1600, members of this family inter-married with any number of prominent Jersey families, and a descendant must have found himself in possession of Surville Manor, possibly through marriage. This was a fine old Somerset family, and the first to come here, Sir Hugh, was appointed by the Queen to the governorship of Jersey in 1550. He, his son and later his grandson, had endless struggles with the Queen to be granted more money for repairs to the fortifications of Mont Orgueil Castle, and spent hundreds of pounds from their own pockets when she held out on them, preoccupied as she was with building the new castle to be named after her in St. Aubin's Bay.
Sir Hugh's son, Sir Amyas, was once called from his duties in Jersey to act as gaoler-in-chief to Mary, Queen of Scots.
A suggestion was made to him, presumably from Royal channels, that he might quietly liquidate the lady, but he replied that 'never would he make such a foul shipwreck of conscience'. Eventually with gentle gallantry he escorted the ill-fated Queen to the scaffold. She turned to him and her last words were 'Thanks, Sir Amyas, this will be the last trouble I will give you'.
SURVILLE MANOR
GARDES LA FOY
By PHYLLIDA CAMPBELL
Jersey Life, 1967
PEACEFUL AND REMOTE, approached only by traversing narrow twisting lanes, Surville Manor in the parish of St. Helier and St. Lawrence, is surrounded on all sides by pastoral scenes, and had it been built a trifle further north would have been sited in the dead centre of the Island.
It is certain that Surville Manor is ancient, perhaps one of the oldest manors in Jersey. The Fief de Surville belongs to Mr. Hedley John Messervy, solicitor of Hill Street and the Manor and grounds are owned today by Commander and Mrs. T. Chamberlayne, who make their home in the new 'cod-house' built in 1841 in front of the ancient dwelling, now restored and let to a farmer and his family.
Many people are a little vague as to what a Fief in Jersey really means. The system is of course a survival of feudal days, in fact from the time a Duke of Normandy named William Longsword captured these Islands in A.D. 933, dividing his new possession into fiefs, keeping some for himself and giving others to his followers. There were the great ones, St. Ouen, Rozel, Trinity, Samares and Melesches whose seigneurs owed knight service, and a hundred or so smaller fiefs divided into various sizes. All, whether big or small, carried with them certain privileges and certain obligations, particularly in time of war.
`Ten sixty-six and all that' could have meant little to the Channel Islands, still a part of the old Duchy of Normandy. It was when King John lost his Norman possessions in 1204 and the Channel Islands, given complete autonomy of Government, stayed with the British Crown, that some of the Norman-Jersey fief owners began to wonder where their loyalties lay. In many cases they also held rich lands in Normandy and after all, were of French descent. Those who departed had their fiefs confiscated by the Crown, some to be re-bestowed later, some to remain today as 'fiefs de la Reine'. Nine in all, of which Surville was one, remained loyal to King John and retained their fiefs on the original terms of grant. The 'disloyal fiefs' were subject to new rights on re-bestowal and remain as it were, junior. Naturally, for one reason and another, the changes of ownership of most of the fiefs over the centuries have been innumerable.
An Ancient Fief
The mists of antiquity tend to shroud the origins of Surville Manor, but it is known that the fief, which forms the northern boundary of the Fief de Bellozanne, was held by Guillame de Sureville in the twelfth century. A Mathilda de Sureville was mentioned as owing 40 shillings for 'fine and relief' in 1180 and then there were the brothers Robert and Nichola de Surville who owned the water mill, Moulin de la Haye at St. Lawrence at about that time. The name of Nicholas, heir of Thomas de Surville, crops up in old documents for having extorted relief illegally, a bad habit of mediaeval seigneurs. There is mention of Maitre Nicholas de Surville, a clerk, in the thirteenth century, also of his son, and then the name seems to have died out. In 1399 the fief passed to the family of le Gallais who lived in the charming little manor for 15 generations.
The Le Gallais family migrated to Jersey from Brittany long before the time of the Norman Conquest, and a Matthew Le Gales was the first Seigneur of Surville of that name. After their long sojourn, little that is positive is known about the occupants, but there is an interesting pointer in the fact that the Coat of Arms of the famous family of Pawlett of Poulet who governed Jersey for three generations in Queen Elizabeth the First's reign, are displayed on the facade of the new manor.
There over the front door of this early Victorian mansion are the arms 'sable three swords in pile silver, points meeting in base, hilts and pommels gold' and the crest `Gardes La Foy', an identical replica of which can be seen by any visitor to Mont Orgueil Castle at Gorey, the official Governors' residence of those days. Unless there was some monkey business, these arms must surely have been removed from the decaying old Surville Manor and placed on the new house which is so unfortunately built directly in front of it as happened so often in those days.
Queen Mary's Gaoler
During the rule of the Pawletts from 1550 to 1600, members of this family inter-married with any number of prominent Jersey families, and a descendant must have found himself in possession of Surville Manor, possibly through marriage. This was a fine old Somerset family, and the first to come here, Sir Hugh, was appointed by the Queen to the governorship of Jersey in 1550. He, his son and later his grandson, had endless struggles with the Queen to be granted more money for repairs to the fortifications of Mont Orgueil Castle, and spent hundreds of pounds from their own pockets when she held out on them, preoccupied as she was with building the new castle to be named after her in St. Aubin's Bay.
Sir Hugh's son, Sir Amyas, was once called from his duties in Jersey to act as gaoler-in-chief to Mary, Queen of Scots.
A suggestion was made to him, presumably from Royal channels, that he might quietly liquidate the lady, but he replied that 'never would he make such a foul shipwreck of conscience'. Eventually with gentle gallantry he escorted the ill-fated Queen to the scaffold. She turned to him and her last words were 'Thanks, Sir Amyas, this will be the last trouble I will give you'.
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